Spies...testing Rizla Suzuki's MotoGP bike last year
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BEN SPIES dominated the double-header AMA Superbike weekend at Auto Club
Speedway in Fontana, California, by taking two wins across the weekend.
Just like in Saturday's race, defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies took
the win on Sunday and was followed home by Suzuki team mates Mat Mladin in
second and Tommy Hayden in third.
Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin actually led most of the laps in
Sunday's race but Spies passed him on the last lap as the two crossed the
start-finish line to get the win.
Hayden got a better start in Sunday's race and worked his way into third
position to take the final spot on the podium. This is the third-consecutive AMA
Superbike podium sweep for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki squad.
Spies said: "This is one of the toughest races I've ever been in. I just
couldn't make any headway. It's a little easier when you have someone in front
of you because you can chase. But certainly the race didn't go the way I would
have planned. I was about to be content with second place when I saw Mat run
wide. So I put my head down and kept pushing and pushing. I almost gave up
with about 15 laps to go but I knew I needed to get as many points as
possible. I think for the last 10 laps or so, I was just out of control. Mat
definitely made me work for it. I can't believe how fast we were going - we had
nothing left at the end of the race, we were pushing the whole time."
Mladin added: "We had a completely different bike today than we did
yesterday and it was a good race for us. We pretty much led all of it but at the end,
we just didn't have it. I made a few small mistakes and gave back a little
time that proved costly at the end. I did what I could but just couldn't hang
on."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
3. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
4. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha)
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
7. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
8. Scott Jensen (Suzuki)
9. Matt Lynn (Honda)
10. Dean Mizdal (Suzuki)
